Shared by Mallory Sullivan, as Guest Blogger.

Visitors are gathering around a raised fern garden enclosed by a fence outside the Grayson Highlands State Park Visitor Center.

Where is Wilson?

“You need to look by that side of the building and that funny-looking tree stump in the corner,” an eleven-year old girl says excitedly.

“Oh, I see it,” a man responds. “You can just spot an inch or so of the shell poking out from underneath the log,” he points out to his son.

A couple ascends the steps to the Grayson Highlands State Park Visitor Center on the sunny, early summer afternoon, looking at the eleven-by-twelve-foot enclosure. “What are you looking at?” they ask.

“It’s a box turtle!” the child replies.

Meet Wilson the box turtle

It’s Wilson, Grayson Highlands State Park’s newest friend and second turtle in residence. Wilson arrived at Grayson Highlands State Park in May of 2016 and was greeted with a wonderful welcome from park visitors. Despite a festive and warm homecoming, Wilson’s story didn’t start out so bright.

Volunteers and staff have worked hard to make sure Wilson has everything he needs.

In 2013, he was found on the side of the road with a crack on his four-inch long plastron (the bottom part of a turtle’s shell). A concerned driver with a careful eye stopped upon noticing his injury and contacted a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

For three years, Wilson was under the care of the rehabilitator. He was nursed back to health and now serves as an education animal because in Virginia, like in many places around the country, it is illegal to release a turtle into the wild if it has been in captivity for over thirty days. Moreover, box turtles have a special homing instinct. This helps them find their way back to their home area, typically a stretch of woodlands, meadows, or pastures the size of a football field or two. Even after months or miles away, box turtles are able to use their instinct to find their way back. Because Wilson has been in captivity for so long, and because the journey back to his home range would likely prove dangerous, he now calls Grayson Highlands State Park home.

Visitors can even look for Wilson from inside the Visitor Center

Wilson is excellent at hiding—he especially likes to burrow in the soil and hide behind logs adjacent to the visitor center—an ability that park rangers highlight as a positive, because it keeps him safe from predators and the elements. Sometimes, it means he goes an entire day without being spotted by park visitors. But today, Wilson is letting us catch a glimpse.

You can visit Wilson in his habitat outside the Grayson Highlands State Park Visitor Center between April and September. Check our schedule of events to see if “Home is Where the Heart Is,” an interpretive program in which you can learn more about Wilson and box turtles, is taking place during your next visit.